


hearth of our hearts

by locomotive



Category: Produce 101 (TV), X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, I promise you this is as not angsty as I could make it, It's happy this time I SWEAR, Long-Term Relationship(s), M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, my poor humor once again features, please bear with me x
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-11-02 06:02:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20646074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/locomotive/pseuds/locomotive
Summary: you like because and you love despite.It makes him realise that while yes, change is scary - he’s more grateful than ever for the one thing that’s always remained a constant.the day the earth stops turning and the seasons stop changing, after our vessels liquesce into saltwater and our bodies return to stardust,all that remains will be seungwoo and wooseok- just, seungwoo and wooseok.as it should be. as it always will be.





	hearth of our hearts

‘Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell.’ 

\- Joan Crawford

It’s not that Seungwoo hates change, he just finds comfort in constants. He likes that he takes the same route to work every morning. He likes that every night he gets back somewhere between 6:24 p.m. and 6:33 p.m.. He likes going to the same jokbal stall in an isolated corner of Eoulmadang-ro every Tuesday, the one where the shopkeeper’s salt and pepper perm matches her stormy disposition. What he  _ loves _ though, is that day in and day out, without fail, he returns to his shared apartment, falling into wide welcoming arms synonymous with home. 

Today though, he’s running the tiniest bit late. 

The alley cat purrs and nuzzles it’s tiny head against Seungwoo’s palm. It’s striped tail curls around his wrist fondly and Seungwoo grins at the look of utter contentment that paints itself across its face. 

A peal of laughter sneaks its way out of Seungwoo’s peony pink lips at the softness of its fur between his fingers. The sun’s just about set, the last vestiges of purply orange fading from the skyline as dusk shifts into night. The ochre tabby cat’s always here, mewling quietly and waiting to be fed. 

His usual bus had been late, an anomaly to say the least. He hadn’t minded so much, only chalked it up to be a minor inconvenience.

By the time he’d finally reached his stop it was a little closer to 7:30. He sighs into the chilly night air, puffs of condensation curling into the sky as he pulls out his phone to see if there were any emails from his boss concerning residual assignments that couldn’t be finished during the work day. 

Sure enough, there’s a smug red notification bubble glaring up at him from the right hand corner of the mail icon. He clicks into it with a look of resignation and roughly estimates how long it will take him to get it done before he can finally tap out for the night. 

He walks up the pebble lined path and sees the little kitten waiting for him by the front porch, it’s gleaming emerald eyes catching the moonlight as it laps at its paw.

“Hey little guy, how’ve you been?” He asks this even though he saw her yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that - never mind that it can’t understand him. That’s just schematics. 

The cat pads up to him as soon as it sees him, doe eyes looking up expectantly. 

Seungwoo sifts through his satchel until his fingers find the tiny can of shredded chicken he’d stopped to pick up at the corner store (he’s read somewhere contrary to popular belief fish wasn’t good for cats and well, it’s become a habit - feeding the cat that is.) 

He sits on one of the little ledges on the inner side of the pedestrian walk and watches as she eats the food. He knows he spoils her, but he has a soft soft for cats. Honestly, how could he not? 

Seungwoo figures he should probably tell Wooseok he’s adopted a cat at some point, maybe actually take it home for once since she’s already seemed to have staked her claim on him. He knows Wooseok wouldn’t mind, the younger had always been fond of cats. Sometimes Seungwoo thinks it’s a bit of an obsession, the cat wall decor he plasters all around the house, the mugs, the toothbrush - hell even the disco light bulbs that project cats all over their ceiling he can deal with, but when they’re having sex the kitty boxers don’t exactly make his dick sing. 

It doesn’t bother him  _ that  _ much though, it’s Wooseok, nothing to do with him ever could. They’re pushing fifteen years now, ten of which they’ve been together. The longevity brings about a sense of permanence which in turn gives him comfort. He has a lot of doubts, never about Wooseok, mostly about where he’s going to go, where  _ they’re  _ going to go from here. How long is it usually before people get married? His aunt got married in a month, his own parents after five years. Shotgun weddings happen all the time, a drunken weekend in Vegas and you finish with more baggage than what you wanted Vegas to shed in the first place. But Wooseok and him aren’t that, the longevity has to mean something. Ten years,  _ statistically  _ at least, that’s longer than most marriages last _ .  _ But nothing’s changed really, nothing’s really pushing for them to take the plunge into the next step. Seungwoo doesn’t suppose it will change much though. Really, what does a piece of paper prove? Surely nothing he didn’t already know. He loves Wooseok, and Wooseok loves him. There was never really any doubt in his mind that this boy, with stars in his eyes and sunshine in his smiles was the only one for him. To love, to cherish and to respect till death do them part. 

The cat mewls and Seungwoo notices that its finished its can of food. He expects her to go off into the night like she usually does, but this time she places a tiny little paw on his thigh. It feels a little hesitant, like the kitten is slowly testing the waters. When he looks to her, her little ears stand up straight and he finds its looking back at him. When Seungwoo doesn’t pull away she puts another paw up before catapulting herself into his lap and nestling herself into the space between his legs. Seungwoo can’t help but be enamoured, and endeavors to stay as still as possible when he pets her while she purrs. 

The area they live isn’t too shabby, Wooseok and him both work. Seungwoo in one of the upper management positions at SBS and Wooseok at an art studio around the corner. Across from their apartment block is a florist, it’s closed right now, but the dull illumination of the street light is just bright enough that Seungwoo can make out the squiggly little cursive that spells out its name -  _ Serendipity _ . He laughs about it now, because well, that’s the perfect word to encompass how they came to be. 

When the two of them had saved up enough and decided it was finally time for them to graduate from their one room studio into something a little more extravagant, Wooseok had said his only criteria was that they move into a nice area, something quaint,  _ pleasant _ and not too rowdy. Wooseok had always been sensitive to smells. Growing up, before his parents had hit it big they were broke. Moving from shoebox to shoebox to make ends meet meant that one was bound to end up in a couple of borderline inhabitable places. 

At first Seungwoo had thought it was cute that Wooseok relied so heavily on scent. It was endearing how his nose scrunched up when he smelled something unpleasant and how his entire face lit up like a Christmas tree when he smelled something he liked. At the time he hadn’t realized that beneath it lay a grimer truth. One of the places he’d lived in when he was younger was right by the sewer, the stench so overwhelming every living moment of the day he was subjected to it. Mealtimes smelt like week old compost and even when he closed his eyes for bed the scent of rotting apples and spoilt milk never left him. It stuck to his clothes, it stuck to his skin and on the first day of middle school, anyone could guess what happened. By nature children were a particularly vicious breed, a concoction of an underdeveloped sense of morality and a direct thought to mouth synapse meant they said whatever they wanted,  _ whenever  _ they wanted. Needless to say it had induced a number of episodes where he’d cry himself to sleep - it’d caused him to be alienated, laughed at until his father’s job eventually relocated his family to Daejeon. He’d healed, he’d made friends, he was happy. But still, it wasn’t something he could ever quite forget. Wounds heal, but the scars? They don’t fade so easy. 

When Wooseok had first told him, Seungwoo hadn’t known what to say. Sure, his family hadn’t been well off either but they had enough to go on. Kids were mean, but they were never that mean. It pained him to imagine what Wooseok had to go through, some fiercely protective almost  _ animalistic  _ instinct surging up in his chest. It wasn’t like he could take back Wooseok’s past, all he could do was make sure of his future. Wooseok had noticed the change in mood and him, being him, had attempted to lighten the atmosphere, stealing a quick kiss right on Seungwoo’s dimple before smiling and reassuring him that all was well and right now, ( _ with Seungwoo,  _ he had specified) he was nothing but incandescently happy. 

That night, curled up in bed he had hugged Wooseok a little closer to his chest, just shy of suffocating, but tighter than usual. He had burrowed his face against his neck, seeking comfort in the gentle heat emitting from the shell of his ear and the steady thrumming of his pulse- a feeling so tangible it left Seungwoo no doubt that Wooseok was here, safe in his arms. Perhaps then he could shield him (just the tiniest bit) from the harshness of the world or better yet, maybe even absorb some of the residual pain. If Wooseok had noticed he hadn’t said anything, his only response slender fingers that ran reassuringly up and down his spine, searing a trail of white hot goosebumps in their wake. It seemed ironic that Wooseok was the one comforting him. Seungwoo had woken up the next morning with Wooseok tucked comfortably in his arms, mouth slightly agape and nose pressed up against his shoulder blade. He looked so much like a baby when he was asleep, rounded features softening even more and Seungwoo couldn’t help but reach out and brush the pad of his thumb against Wooseok’s pillowy cheek. Wooseok had just barely stirred, a little crease forming between his brows as he mumbled a sleepy “hyung….” before drifting back into his dreams. 

Seungwoo remembers feeling that exact brand of serenity wash over him, the kind only Wooseok could bring him. He had thought then, that as long as they were together, an ‘us against the world’ type of thing - they could do anything, be anything. That was the ultimate dream, wasn’t it? 

This neighbourhood hadn’t been first on their list, in fact it wasn’t even close. But it was this exact flower shop that had sealed the deal for them. They hadn’t noticed it at first, it was smaller, discreet, pastel and shy in a street of vibrant technicolor. But the sweet notes of honeysuckle and lilac waltzed through the air boldly - raw and condensed. It smelled like a tiny piece of Heaven. It was perfect really, for the little home they were trying to build for the two of them. Plus, Seungwoo knew Wooseok had immediately fallen in love, and well, as cheesy as it sounds Seungwoo had fallen in love with Wooseok falling in love. 

He’s a bit lost in his thoughts, hands petting the kitten almost robotically as he reminisces, so absorbed he misses the warm body that inserts himself onto the ledge right next to him. He smells Wooseok first, the familiar scent of bergamot and peonies enveloping him in warmth. He doesn’t think much of it, resigning to the idea that it might just be his mind conjuring it up yet again - wouldn’t be anything new. It isn’t until Wooseok scoots closer and their upper arms brush against each other’s that Seungwoo startles with a jolt, the cat in his lap letting out a whine of displeasure at the sudden movement. 

Wooseok lets out a soft chuckle, sounding something like windchimes, pretty eyes swirling with mirth as they blink up at him through long doe lashes. “Penny for your thoughts?” 

His hair is still a little damp from the shower and Seungwoo’s heart skips half a beat as his breath catches in his throat. He looks stunning. He stifles the urge to reach up and run his hands through it, because frankly that’s  _ all  _ he wants to do from now till forever.

“Wooseok,” sighs Seungwoo, loving the way it leaves his lips. Something about the way it sounded when it rolled off his tongue was still so compelling after so long. He really likes his name. Sounds good when he moans it too, because, well, some names just don’t work. 

“You know I was really worried about you,” chastises Wooseok, frowning, “you come home late, you don’t pick up my calls, what am I supposed to do? I had half a mind to call the cops on you!” He sounds a bit panicked, a bit short of breath as he says this. The faint dusting of powdery pink on his cheeks a telltale sign that he’d been running around the area and Seungwoo immediately feels his insides twist with guilt. He had turned his phone on silent and after texting Wooseok he’d be home late had put it away. He figured he’d be home soon enough but hadn’t accounted for the furry situation currently lazing around contentedly in his lap. 

Seungwoo winces before whispering, “I’m sorry, I got side-tracked….” He trails off, eyes flitting down to his lap where the kitten is. Wooseok follows his gaze and when he sees the cat his eyes seem to shimmer even brighter, the stars that live in them multiplying tenfold. It’s almost blinding.

All else forgotten, Wooseok, as if on reflex, reaches out to pet the kitten and coos, “Oh, you’re just the cutest little baby aren’t you?” 

Seungwoo should like to burn this image in his mind a thousand times over, engraving it into his memory one stroke at a time because it is  _ in fact  _ the best, the cutest thing his mortal eyes ever did see. He is so so  _ so  _ incredibly gone for this boy. He can’t really say it enough. 

“Does it have a home?” Asks Wooseok, cutting through his thoughts, only looking up briefly before turning his full attention back to the cat. 

“It doesn’t seem to have a collar or anything, but I’ve been feeding it for the last two months or so.” Replies Seungwoo, still admiring the scene playing out before him. 

Wooseok freezes, he looks so incredibly betrayed, mouth rounding to an ‘o’ as he narrows his eyes at Seungwoo, “and you never thought to tell me?” He accuses with no bite. 

“I was going to today, I swear! I just wasn’t sure it liked me very much.” Responds Seungwoo, eyes scanning the extremities of Wooseok’s face in an attempt to gauge his reaction.

His expression softens and he smiles Seungwoo’s favorite smile - the one that Seungwoo can’t resist, the one that feels like peonies in spring, cinnamon apple cider in autumn and like summer in this yeti’s asscrack of a winter. 

“How could anyone not love you?” Breathes Wooseok, his eyes so impossibly fond that Seungwoo’s heart skips a beat. It’s so natural it’s almost like clockwork. Wooseok gets like that a lot, always looking for occasions to profess how lovable Seungwoo was. Sometimes it was in intimate whispers after a tough day at work, other times it’d be embarrassingly short of a shout in a massive crowd. Most days Seungwoo ends up with crimson on his cheeks to match the crimson of his heart. Wooseok knows that it causes a severe lapse of judgement on Seungwoo’s part and that sneaky bastard almost always uses it to his advantage.

“I mean, naturally.” Says Seungwoo, rolling his eyes in an attempt to seem unaffected but no doubt failing miserably. He pauses for a moment, before turning to look at Wooseok right in his beautiful obsidian eyes. “Spit it out Kim Wooseok - what do you want?” 

Wooseok says nothing at first, only plastering himself as close as possible to Seungwoo’s side before resting his head on his shoulder and pressing icy cold lips to the cruelest spot just under his ear - where he just  _ knows  _ Seungwoo will feel it the most, right where neck meets jaw. 

And feel it he does. 

“Babe, what-“ starts Seungwoo, involuntarily shuddering as he feels the goosebumps form along his arms, sinking and sinking  _ fast  _ into the feeling of warm breath against bare skin.

But Wooseok with his perpetually warm smile that radiates happiness and dazzling delight amongst other things asks with his widest, toothiest grin, knowing full well that Seungwoo is clay in his hands, “Can we keep it?” 

  
  


xxx

  
  


The fact is, Seungwoo would’ve said yes. Wooseok didn’t have to do all that. Granted, it was entirely welcome. 

Seungwoo drops his keys in the little dish they keep by the door. Taking off his shoes, he watches as Wooseok excitedly carries their new pet into the living room. He migrates to the carpet and falls flat on his back, with the kitten perched on his chest. Needless to say, it finds a new bed in the form of Wooseok’s left pec. Wooseok on the other hand, giggles as he rubs his forefinger against its tiny cheek. Seungwoo’s helplessly enamoured at the scene playing out before him, a litany of endearments surging up in his mind as he feels the corners of his lips tilt upwards of their own accord. 

Wooseok had always filled in the blank spaces in his life, ever since the day they met. His life before Wooseok and his life now was so completely polarised he often looks back and wonders how he ever made it through all the grey, how he barely remembers what it was like before Wooseok had become the one constant in his life. He had effectively managed to slot himself so deep into every fibre of Seungwoo’s being, his name was etched in like a tattoo on even the tiniest of molecules in his body. 

Looking around Seungwoo wonders if it was a good idea to adopt a new member into their small family of two. Their place is a mess, to say the least. Magazines lie haphazardly all around the wooden floorboards of their living room almost like an ugly pastiche made up of Men’s Health and Cosmopolitan. Snacks litter their kitchen counters, Seungwoo’s assortment of protein powders and Wooseok’s sweet potato biscuits at some point had migrated out of the cabinets. They’d been on the counter for so long now it just seems like that’s where they should be, so no one ever thinks to put them back. It got to the point where one of their friends decided to get him a  _ non-refundable _ cleaning service gift voucher for his birthday. Seungwoo had argued then that their interior design concept was something  _ homey, lived-in  _ when it fact it resembled something a little closer to a pig sty. For all intents and purposes they were both fully functioning adults, and still, it was rare that laundry would be done more than once a fortnight. 

There’s some faint mumbling and a bit of static coming from somewhere and when Seungwoo walks into their apartment to inspect it, he finds that in his haste, Wooseok had left the TV on the anime channel. Classic. Seungwoo’s never been that big of a fan but Wooseok likes them so he watches along with him. When Wooseok laughs, he does too. It’s less about how much he likes it, but he likes that Wooseok likes it. He can’t tell you how many times Wooseok tired himself out watching TV while they were all snuggled up on the couch, falling asleep with a bit of crusted drool on the side of his lip and his cute face smooshed up against Seungwoo’s chest. It was unfair that he still looked nice, but then again Wooseok always did have this unexplainable kind of magnetism that just drew people in. Seungwoo lets them stay like that even when his sides go numb and he can’t feel his right foot - likely a poor decision but a sacrifice he was willing to make because of how stupidly in love he was. 

Hunter x Hunter’s on, and Seungwoo doesn’t really know much about it apart from the fact that it’s one of Wooseok’s favorites. The characters are yelling animatedly about some fight going on and this tiny kid with white hair’s just cut into someone with his fingernails. ‘Killua?’ Seungwoo wonders out loud, having heard it fly out Wooseok’s mouth more often than not, he supposes it’s a nice sounding name. 

He sits there and watches it for a bit, the show’s still going and one of the characters that’s no doubt supposed to be the archetypal mentor character or something like that says, ‘I look forward to you completing your training, in time you will be able to call me master.’ 

“Master?” Wooseok wiggles his eyebrows suggestively as he walks into the room, “Wouldn’t be opposed to trying that out y’know.” 

He’s standing propped up against the side of their bedroom door staring straight at him in a way that singes all the way down his gut, smiling all wide and pretty in the way Seungwoo just  _ love love loves - oh, and did he say loves?  _ Seungwoo often comes to think that with Wooseok, he really did catch lightning in a bottle. 

It’s astounding to him how Wooseok can say something like that with such nonchalance, innocent kitten still tucked snuggly in his arms sound asleep. But Wooseok is what he’s come to know as the biggest oxymoron in existence. He looks like a baby, but he’s got the resilience of an old man. He’s outgoing enough, but he values the intimate things. He smiles big and bright, eclipsing Apollo’s chariot and the Teletubby sun, but he’s serious - genuine where it counts. He’s an enigma so unique he’s one of a kind, and yet he manages to remain a steady, ubiquitous feature in every second of Seungwoo’s existence. To capture him in words would be impossible because he is so  _ much.  _ Visceral, like sunlight, unquantifiable - he cannot be grasped. He just  _ is.  _ He also seems to think he’s funny. He isn’t. 

The cat stirs awake at that, pawing at Wooseok’s chest before she attempts to hoist herself up onto his shoulder, his  _ left  _ shoulder.  _ Seungwoo’s  _ shoulder. It’s strange, even Seungwoo is willing to concede in that retrospect that he’s so possessive over a shoulder. He thinks Wooseok doesn’t know, but he’s not sure. 

Wooseok’s years of painting and lifting heavy canvases have caused the muscles in his right arm to grow more firm, more taut, lovely to look at but not as soft to touch. The left shoulder is Seungwoo’s preferred side to rest his head when they’re snuggled up on cold winter winter evenings for their movie marathons, it’s the side that bruises prettier with hickies, and when they’re on their morning strolls and Seungwoo leans against Wooseok, it’s seemingly curved to fit his head like memory foam, melding just  _ so.  _ Seungwoo likes his left shoulder because it’s the side he wakes up to, falls asleep to; it’s the first to greet him good morning and the last to wish him a good night. 

“You’re gonna have to stop saying stuff like that unless you want to scare our kid,” Seungwoo nods towards their new pet, “for life.” The kitten purrs, nuzzling its tiny head against Wooseok’s neck as if she’s already picked a side. Seungwoo’s been feeding her for months and all it takes is an hour with Wooseok for her to have switched allegiance. The audacity. The betrayal. The very definition of it. 

‘She’s too young to learn about S-E-X.’ whispers Seungwoo, cupping his mouth with his hands as he says it as if the cat might possibly see what Seungwoo’s saying and somehow understand. 

Wooseok is in fits giggling. All these years and he still gets stitches in his side from snickering at the word ‘sex’. But it’s even more endearing if Seungwoo were being honest, and you want to know why? It’s because he’s a sucker. Whipped. Beat. A fool for love, in love. 

“I get it hyung, it’s difficult to admit that you’re into that kinda stuff, it’s fine, but I know the truth.” Comes Wooseok’s response, airy and playful, “admitting defeat is hard.” and he gets that look in his eyes almost solely reserved for little children in playgrounds teasing the object of their affection. 

Seungwoo’s about to argue back, a retort on the tip of his tongue before the cat mewls, emerald tone eyes downturned in a look of displeasure as if she’s decided that the attention has been away from her for too long. 

Wooseok’s focuses on her right away, rocking his arms gently as he coos, one hand petting at the crown of her head as her tail wraps lovingly around his arm, ‘Shh, Cat, what’s the matter?” he asks as he presses a gentle kiss to her fur. 

And it’s funny really, to see big, huge bonafide puppy in himself Kim Wooseok as he coddles a tiny little kitten with all the care in the world. Seungwoo stifles a giggle, “Did you just call her  _ Cat _ ?” 

Wooseok looks up sheepishly, “Well she doesn’t have a name yet right?” 

And he’s right, but he looks like a deer in headlights as his embarrassment makes itself obvious in his expression.  _ Adorable.  _

“No, she doesn’t have one. I suppose we have to come up with one then right?” Wonders Seungwoo. He’s not good with naming, but he has Wooseok so he supposes it can’t go that badly - well, on second thought, if Wooseok had had his way the cat would have been named  _ Cat,  _ so maybe not. 

When Wooseok is passionate about something, his voice gets all squeaky and animated. Seungwoo can practically feel the excitement rippling off of him in waves as the force of all his sunshiney happy-go-luckiness hits him at full force, “Oh great Han Seungwoo, patron saint of cats, would you care to do the honors?” Says Wooseok’s voice, deliberately distorted to sound like he’s old, grey and balding, some Dumbledore Gandalf hybrid of an impression and a peal of laughter slips out of Seungwoo’s lips at how ridiculous it sounds. 

“KILLUA WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Comes a badly dubbed screech from the television, loud enough that Seungwoo’s sure the nasty uncle they have for a neighbour is going to come banging on their door again with his feather duster. 

“That timing cannot be a coincidence.” Says Wooseok, cutting through Seungwoo’s thoughts, “How about Killua then? You know how I’ve always been a fan of his.” 

“Killua? That’s not bad actually.” Says Seungwoo. “I like it.”

“Killua it is then!” Exclaims Wooseok, “I love Killua, you love Killua, the cat naming Gods love Killua - it’s a win win WIN situation!” 

“Isn’t that right baby girl,” Wooseok coos at the kitten in the voice adults use almost exclusively when speaking to toddlers, his eyes dripping with honey and adoration evident in his tone. “You love Killua too don’t you, Killua?” 

To describe the picture that plays out in front of Seungwoo’s eyes in one word, he thinks it would be miraculous. Wooseok looks every bit like a Father and it makes Seungwoo’s heart squeeze, it beats a little faster, a little louder, raising to a crescendo and Seungwoo really can’t help himself when he gets up, almost like clockwork, motions fluid and in tune with the thrum of his pulse as he makes his way to Wooseok in three large strides. 

“You’re so cute you know that?” Seungwoo says, a hair’s width between them, deliberately drawing out his voice smooth as velvet.

Wooseok flushes peony first, then crimson and dare Seungwoo say, it’s got to be the prettiest shade in the world. 

“I know, and you love me for it.” Wooseok mumbles, losing a bit of his bravado at the proximity. 

“I was talking about the cat.” Seungwoo giggles as Wooseok’s face flushes further, his marshmallow cheeks puffing up in mock displeasure. Seungwoo just stands there, enjoying the way Wooseok’s eyes dart around the room flickering nervously as he draws in a shaky breath. ‘But I guess you’re aight’.’ Seungwoo teases, darting his tongue out cheekily. 

‘Yeah?’ whispers Wooseok, iridescent onyx pooling in his irises, ‘Just alright, huh?’ inching a couple of millimeters closer so that their noses are touching and Seungwoo can feel the heady intermingling of their breath as every fibre of his being pulls him closer to Wooseok, tugged by heartstrings and sealed by fate.

Seungwoo makes a little noise of agreement before he pushes forward, closing the distance as he cups Wooseok’s cheeks with his hands, fingers splayed out against soft skin pouring every inch of himself into the kiss as their lips lock like long lost puzzle pieces. It’s like the sky meeting the sea, frayed borders blurring into one, it feels natural, organic - like coming home. 

Seungwoo sinks his teeth into the give of Wooseok’s lower lip, before running the flat of his tongue along it, coaxing a gasp out of him as he moves to kiss at his jaw, his cheeks and finally back to his lips again. Seungwoo can feel the way Wooseok’s breath hitches from his hands on his neck and how his pulse flutters right behind his ears, the way he swallows in anticipation. Seungwoo pushes forwards on his tip toes, their foreheads touching as their mouths move in sync, marking each other up with kisses that sear hot like firebrands. 

When they finally break apart for air, Wooseok’s still got his eyes closed and and he’s licking his lips, looking fuller and just bitten as if he’s trying to savour the moment. 

“I love you.” Says Seungwoo, affection lacing his tone as he smiles, long fingers running comfortingly up and down his spine, and really he wants to say more. How could he even begin to describe the depth of his love for Wooseok and everything that he’s done for him. Every time he says ‘I love you’ he says it like it’s the first time all over again. He puts every ounce of himself into those three words, fills them to the brim with meaning defined purely in Wooseok. Agape. Unconditional, unselfish, so potent and good and true he knows it would be felt from miles away. 

Their family just got bigger, and he reaches out to pet at Killua, at  _ their baby _ . This step is an overture to the next movement in the symphony of their lives and Seungwoo couldn’t be happier. More room to love. More room to grow. Forever and always. 

“Me too, baby, me too. More than you know.” 

And under harlequin stars, shrouded in the opalescent glow of the moon Seungwoo smiles, because he knows with the certainty that the sun will rise tomorrow morning that it’s true. 

Kim Wooseok loves Han Seungwoo within every inch of his being, and that’s more than he could ever ask for. 

  
  
  


xxx

  
  
  


They were friends before anything else. The process of them getting together was long and arduous - perhaps a story saved for another time. But on their first real date, Seungwoo had opened the door to a massive bouquet of  _ onions. Root vegetables.  _

It was really jarring, as you’d expect it to be. But Wooseok had peaked out from behind the bouquet so handsome, good and true, radiating sincerity in photon waves all the way down to the tips of his toes that there was no way Seungwoo couldn’t be touched. 

“My feelings for you are like an onion,” he had said. “Layers and layers and layers later, the core is still a layer. My feelings for you are endless, boundless and maybe the further we go, you’ll get to see the bits of me that have yet to be uncovered.” 

Seungwoo can tell that he planned it, and he can see the way Wooseok’s cheeks puff up as he says it, the sight reminding Seungwoo of a makeshift dam trying to battle the force of the tide as he tries desperately to hold back a full bodied laugh, forcing himself to stay serious as he recites his little speech. 

It was so bad, so cheesy - downright horrible, and yet, the old school romantic poets had nothing on Wooseok, really. 

They’d gone to the park, the maya blue skies lined with pillowy cotton candy clouds as a various assortment of woodland creatures scuttled out and about. It was just another run-of-the-mill day, average of sorts. There was no jet with banners that detailed declarations of love whizzing by over their heads and there were no boomboxes outside windows. They talked for hours just enjoying each other’s presence, the little things, the minute details, getting to know each other all over again and only stopping briefly at a  _ pochangmacha _ to grab some  _ tteokbokki _ and  _ kimbap  _ for lunch. When Seungwoo had kissed him at the end of the day, his lips didn’t taste of champagne, or the food of a five star Michelin restaurant like his friends had suggested he take Wooseok to, but Seungwoo couldn’t help but think that this was even better. 

When he was younger he’d thought love had to be cataclysmic to be real. It had to feel like your world would end without them, like a blunt knife jabbing into the same open wound over and over again or like you couldn’t breathe without them by your side. But in the end, he’d concluded that maybe it was the very opposite.

You can’t depend your happiness on other people. Love isn’t like that, it’s about support, about mutual assurance. You can’t expect someone to be your life raft, cling onto them as you’re drowning and wonder why you’re both sinking. 

Love doesn’t have to be big, romantic gestures like in the movies. In reality - if it’s warm, if it’s strong if it’s steady - that’s enough. Seungwoo’s slowly come to realise that love is when you’ve finally found someone that walks with you, side by side, step by step, someone with whom you have an easy camaraderie with, that doesn’t rush ahead or fall behind. Someone who matches you, yet challenges you. People get over heartbreak, a couple pints of ice cream and a Bridget Jones marathon then life just goes on. It’s almost like a rite of passage. But to just  _ know  _ without any sort of doubt or pain that you would always have someone to come home to? Someone who is dependable, that you just have infallible faith in? That’s what he can tell you confidently to him at least, is what love is. After all, love is only a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning. Wooseok and him were kind of like that he supposes. The idea of a constant inevitability, like the comfortable orangey warmth of a hearth - Wooseok would always be his home, and well, as they say,  _ home _ is where the  _ heart _ is. 

Later that night when they’re wrapped in each other’s arms with Killua at the foot of the bed, he hears Wooseok whisper into his hair, “I want you to know that you’re enough, more than enough, you’re so giving and you love so much, you give your heart in full - you make me so happy, and being here, being with you? I feel like I’m in a constant state of euphoria and I promise, to the best of my ability, with my dying breath I’ll make you happy too, as much as you make me.” 

Seungwoo feels tears heat up in his eyes, welling at the rim as he blinks them back, heat licks through his veins making his blood sing and he doesn’t know what to say, can’t help but be in awe as he rubs his fingers against the high points of Wooseok’s cheekbones. “You do make me happy Wooseok. Don’t doubt it for a second alright?” 

The smile of contentment that spreads over Wooseok’s face right then and there is the reason Seungwoo gets up in the morning, the reason his life has only been colored in happiness for the last couple years. He surges forward and presses his lips to the top of his love’s head and pulls him closer and even closer still. 

Kim Wooseok deserves capital R romance, deserves to be coddled and adored, treasured and appreciated. He deserves breakfast in bed and toe curling kisses, sweepingly dramatic shouts of affection into the void and Seungwoo intends to give that to him, to devote himself to the cause for the rest of his life. 

Because, he’s worth it, he’ll always be worth it. 

So it goes, they met and they loved, you could call it kismet, serendipity. But Seungwoo thinks that’s not how providence works. It’s the trust, the layers of support they’ve built and bred between each other, the work they put in to find the needle in the haystack that have made them who they are today. Wooseok showed him for the first time what it meant to want to fight for something, to want to hold on to something and never let go. 

To him, Wooseok is the steady warmth of the sun that breathes life into his world, he’s the boundless tenderness of the sky that stretches far past a limitless horizon. Seungwoo had once heard of a man who was so busy counting the stars that he’d lost sight of the moon, he doesn’t think that could ever be him. Under the opalescent glow that shines in through the windows, he sees light and he sees shadows, he sees the good times and the bad times, but it does nothing but make the man he loves look even more ethereal, pinpoints of his features glowing like a beacon in the night. He couldn’t possibly look away, not ever. This is enough, it always will be. 

Because to love someone, it doesn’t mean you see them as perfect, it means you see them for their imperfections and you choose to love them still. 

He can’t quantify it, his love for Wooseok, he can’t express it in words but one look at the way Wooseok’s eyes glimmer back up at him, so big, bright and profound - he sees his reflection, he sees the way Wooseok sees him and the pressure in his heart finally relents into something akin to tranquility, to peacefulness. There’s honesty in them, love and all the bits and bobs that it entails that pierces through the focus of his gaze - the look he wears ushering out concentrated affection so pure and so unadulterated that it hits Seungwoo with the force of a thousand suns. He welcomes it. 

_ So this is what happiness is _ , thinks Seungwoo, a flicker of a smile gracing his lips that echoes his sentiment. True love is rare, how lucky he is to have it in his arms. 

Seungwoo pulls the duvet up higher and snuggles impossibly closer to Wooseok, forehead to forehead, not satisfied until they’re pressed so tightly together they just about fuse into a single entity. 

Tomorrow can’t come soon enough, he can’t wait to see Wooseok again. 

The three of them fall asleep soon after together, curled up against each other. It’s a miracle really, how like a syzygy in the infinite abyss of all 93 billion lightyears of space they found each other against all odds.

Perhaps here, on this spectacularly ordinary night 

_ \- this feeling is what people live for, what they spend their whole lives in search for.  _

**Author's Note:**

> i actually wrote this for another ship and took it down bc i didn't like it for them....but i felt like it deserved to see the light of day instead of rotting in my drafts so i edited it and decided to post it
> 
> im also posting this as a a bit of an apology bc i know i owe the tag the second part of where the sunflowers grow but its taking loads longer than i anticipated so.....:) 
> 
> twt is @2seungyulcat pls come say hello! <3


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